The 'Bummer No-Shows' award

Inga Shkarupa (UKR), Rebecca Toledano (ESP), Svetlana Tarasevich (BLR), Becky Banks (ISR).

The 'You Can't Get Any Closer Than This' award

Relais Mercure Hotel - Located literally 250 feet away from the Bercy Arena.

The 'Surprise Appearances' award

Tatiana Yarosh (UKR), Yevgenia Kuznetsova (RUS) (even though she didn't do anything).

The 'Hot Spot' award

Champs Elysees - Main street of Paris was heavily infested with tourists as well as locals that just wanted to hang out and people watch. Lots of cool shops and cafes, capped off with the Arc d' Triomphe on one end and the gigantic Concorde ferris wheel on the other end. A great place to hang!

The 'Bleached Blond Hair' award

Team Russia except for Elena Produnova.

The 'You Need Faster Elevators' award

Relais Mercure Hotel - During the breakfast hours, it would take literally 6 minutes for the elevators to arrive. Also, since the cars were so small it usually meant for a long wait anyway.

The 'Photographers Worst Nightmare' award (Part 1)

The TV camera boom in front of the photographers platform - During all phases of the competition, the boom arm keep getting in the way of the balance beam and uneven bar routines, blowing a lot of key shots for all the photographers. Grrrrrrr!

The 'Staying on Top is Really Hard to Do' award

Maria Olaru (ROM) - Current World AA champ looked kind of beat up, with heavily bandaged ankles and a back brace, and she performed poorly during the training sessions. She definitely seemed to have grown taller since China (she stood almost a full head above Simona Amanar) and the additional height may be taking a toll on her physically. About 15 minutes prior to the start of the team competition, a pensive Octavian Belu runs out from the training area and engages in a serious discussion with the lead officials on the floor. Most everyone guessed correctly what they were talking about. Lo and behold, come the start of the team competition Olaru was nowhere to be seen, and was replaced by Loredana Boboc.

Adrienn Varga (HUN) - Defending vault champion has been plagued with injuries and rather questionable for the last several months. She only competed on vault during the team competition, and then only getting a 9.262 and out of EF contention. Hopefully she will be able to get better before Sydney.

The 'Best Restaurant' award

Brasserie Restaurant de L'Ecole Militaire - Although it was impossible to check out every single restaurant in Paris, this one really stood out. I ordered a half lobster, which was outstanding, and for dessert I had a 'Mystere' ice cream. If you're in Paris, give it a shot at 3, Place de L'Ecole Militaire, 75007, Paris. Phone 01 47 05 45 16. Yum!

The 'Closet Pugilists' award

Members of the Dutch team - After the AA competition, a gnarly fistfight broke out among some skateboard punks outside the Bercy Arena. A few of the Dutch girls were walking by and sat down on the steps to watch the spectacle.

The 'Matching Leotards' award

Russian seniors and Ukrainian seniors - Both team wore velvety dark burgundy leotards that were almost identical except for some gold colored trim on the UKR ones. It wasn't too hard to tell them apart though: no one is going to mistake Viktoria Karpenko for Svetlana Khorkina any time soon.

The 'Biggest Bummer of the Trip' award

Taking the metro from the airport to the city - I had a ton of luggage, and after dragging all that stuff around all over the place and up and down a bunch of stairs, my hands looked like I did 50 high bar routines. If one is traveling very light, then the metro is the greatest and the cheapest way to go. But for the trip back to the airport I forked out 240 francs for a taxi. Believe me, it was worth it.

The 'Cushiest Job in Paris' award

Security Guard at Jim Morrison's gravesite - A French policeman is stationed at Jimbo's grave to prevent any acts of vandalism, which have occurred frequently. He didn't really have to do much, and he smoked a lot.

The 'You'd Better Be in Good Shape to Come Here' award

Arc d' Triomphe - 286 steps to the top. *WHEW!* There is a small museum at the top, and the view is pretty good. You can see the Eiffel Tower to the south, Sacre Couer to the east, La Defense to the west, and straight down the Champs Elysees. Cool!

Montmartre - Beautiful cathedral and surrounding town, but exhausting to get up there. Maybe next time I'll take the tram.

The 'Hydrogen Bomb' award

Loredana Boboc - A last minute replacement for current world AA champ Maria Olaru, she falls on beam during the last rotation of team finals, sealing the win for the Russians. Belu was beside himself, and didn't even watch Simona or Andreea's routines, instead bending down to tie his shoes. We'll probably never see Boboc again. j/k!!

The 'Too Crowded' award

Gold - Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

Silver - Montmartres/Sacre Couer Cathedral.

Bronze - Versaillles.

The 'Best Recovery from Grief' award

Ludivine Furnon - During her team balance beam routine, she ends up off balance during a handstand, does a spin on her forearm, then falls over completely and is left hanging under the beam. It takes her about 5 seconds to muscle herself up onto the beam to continue her routine. To her credit, she kept her body piked and her toes pointed.

The 'Hotter Than He!!' award

The temperature in the Arena - Paris was very humid to begin with, but I was told they raise the temperature in the arena further cuz the gymnasts are wearing leotards and are more susceptible to cold. The funny thing was that you could see sweat soaking the gymnasts leotards profusely. No, I don't think they were very cold. And I know that I and all the other photographers were sweating like sveenya.

The 'Gardener's Worst Nightmare' award

Bercy Arena - The exterior of the arena has walls of grass that are angled at an extremely steep angle. To cut the grass, gardeners had to use these special lawnmowers that are attached to ropes and pull them up the walls.